The Rheumatologist
COVID-19 News
  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed
  • Home
  • Conditions
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis
    • SLE (Lupus)
    • Crystal Arthritis
      • Gout Resource Center
    • Spondyloarthritis
    • Osteoarthritis
    • Soft Tissue Pain
    • Scleroderma
    • Vasculitis
    • Systemic Inflammatory Syndromes
    • Guidelines
  • Resource Centers
    • Axial Spondyloarthritis Resource Center
    • Gout Resource Center
    • Psoriatic Arthritis Resource Center
    • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
    • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
  • Drug Updates
    • Biologics & Biosimilars
    • DMARDs & Immunosuppressives
    • Topical Drugs
    • Analgesics
    • Safety
    • Pharma Co. News
  • Professional Topics
    • Ethics
    • Legal
    • Legislation & Advocacy
    • Career Development
      • Certification
      • Education & Training
    • Awards
    • Profiles
    • President’s Perspective
    • Rheuminations
    • Interprofessional Perspective
  • Practice Management
    • Billing/Coding
    • Quality Assurance/Improvement
    • Workforce
    • Facility
    • Patient Perspective
    • Electronic Health Records
    • Apps
    • Information Technology
    • From the College
    • Multimedia
      • Audio
      • Video
  • Resources
    • Issue Archives
    • ACR Convergence
      • Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Resource Center
      • Rheumatoid Arthritis Resource Center
      • Gout Resource Center
      • Abstracts
      • Meeting Reports
      • ACR Convergence Home
    • American College of Rheumatology
    • ACR ExamRheum
    • Research Reviews
    • ACR Journals
      • Arthritis & Rheumatology
      • Arthritis Care & Research
      • ACR Open Rheumatology
    • Rheumatology Image Library
    • Treatment Guidelines
    • Rheumatology Research Foundation
    • Events
  • About Us
    • Mission/Vision
    • Meet the Authors
    • Meet the Editors
    • Contribute to The Rheumatologist
    • Subscription
    • Contact
  • Advertise
  • Search
You are here: Home / Articles / Dr. Michael Weinblatt Discusses Current & Future RA Therapies

Dr. Michael Weinblatt Discusses Current & Future RA Therapies

December 11, 2015 • By Richard Quinn

  • Tweet
  • Email
Print-Friendly Version / Save PDF

GENERIC_Science_Research_500x270The growth of treatment options for patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) over the past 10 years isn’t likely to be replicated in the next 10 years, says former ACR President Michael Weinblatt, MD.

You Might Also Like
  • Rheumatologist, Cyclist Michael Weinblatt, MD, Tours America on Two Wheels
  • Biologic Logic: Making Sense of Current Therapies for Rheumatic Diseases
  • From the Expert: Dr. Michael Weisman Discusses the Challenges of Enthesitis
Also By This Author
  • Nanomedicines May Reset the Immune System to Treat Disease

“I don’t expect some brand new drug to come out that’s basically going to be significantly better than the cast of really good drugs we already have,” says Dr. Weinblatt, co-director of Clinical Rheumatology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston and a professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School. “Do I think the magic bullet for RA is [coming] in the next five years, some new treatment? My answer is ‘no.’ I think we need to be smarter about the drugs we currently have and smarter about drug development.”

Dr. Weinblatt

Dr. Michael Weinblatt

Dr. Weinblatt talked recently with The Rheumatologist about the state of RA therapies.

Question: What is the playing field like today for treatment options?
Answer: There’s a 60 or 70% chance that if you walk into the door now with untreated, new-onset RA, with appropriate dosing of methotrexate—and if that fails as a monotherapy, the use of combinations, either small molecules or biologics with methotrexate—that you can achieve low disease activity in several months. However, there are still 20–25% of patients who, despite this approach, still have evidence of moderate to high disease activity that requires additional therapies. But for many patients, with this kind of ‘treat-to-target’ approach, there’s a very good chance they can achieve low disease activity or remission. That’s very good.

ad goes here:advert-2
ADVERTISEMENT
SCROLL TO CONTINUE

Question: Are biosimilars the future of RA therapy?
Answer: The critical question to me with biosimilars will be switch studies. That is taking someone who is well controlled on the originator molecule, switching them to a biosimilar and ensuring to the patient and the clinician there’s no loss of efficacy and no increased immunogenicity. Assuming that occurs, biosimilars should not offer any greater efficacy than the originator, but hopefully there will be a discount in pricing that might allow greater access for our patients. … To me, the greatest challenge now in the management of RA is access issues due to cost.

Question: What do you see as the future of RA therapies?
Answer: We have not had a lot of success combining biologics, but maybe they’re the wrong biologics or wrong study designs and dosing. Targeted small-dose ranging studies with appropriate combinations should be considered to determine the proof of principle. We also need non-immunosuppressive drugs to add on top of background methotrexate, and either biologics or Janus kinase inhibitors, or other small molecules to see if we can achieve a lower disease state in patients who are still in the moderate or high range without increasing the immunosuppression.

Pages: 1 2 | Single Page

Filed Under: Conditions, Drug Updates, Rheumatoid Arthritis Tagged With: Biologics, Biologics & Biosimilars, combination therapy, drug therapy, Methotrexate, Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA)

You Might Also Like:
  • Rheumatologist, Cyclist Michael Weinblatt, MD, Tours America on Two Wheels
  • Biologic Logic: Making Sense of Current Therapies for Rheumatic Diseases
  • From the Expert: Dr. Michael Weisman Discusses the Challenges of Enthesitis
  • Current Graduate Medical Education Can’t Meet Future Needs

ACR Convergence

Don’t miss rheumatology’s premier scientific meeting for anyone involved in research or the delivery of rheumatologic care or services.

Visit the ACR Convergence site »

Rheumatology Research Foundation

The Foundation is the largest private funding source for rheumatology research and training in the U.S.

Learn more »

Meeting Abstracts

Browse and search abstracts from the ACR Convergence and ACR/ARP Annual Meetings going back to 2012.

Visit the Abstracts site »

The Rheumatologist newsmagazine reports on issues and trends in the management and treatment of rheumatic diseases. The Rheumatologist reaches 11,500 rheumatologists, internists, orthopedic surgeons, nurse practitioners, physician assistants, nurses, and other healthcare professionals who practice, research, or teach in the field of rheumatology.

About Us / Contact Us / Advertise / Privacy Policy / Terms of Use

  • Connect with us:
  • Facebook
  • Twitter
  • LinkedIn
  • YouTube
  • Feed

Copyright © 2006–2022 American College of Rheumatology. All rights reserved.

ISSN 1931-3268 (print)
ISSN 1931-3209 (online)

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.